Natasha’s Law Explained: What UK Food Businesses Must Do (2026)

If you run a café, bakery, deli or takeaway in the UK, there is one piece of food law you cannot afford to get wrong: Natasha’s Law. Since October 2021 it has changed how thousands of businesses label the food they make and sell, and in 2026 it remains one of the most important allergen rules for anyone preparing food on their premises. This guide explains what the law is, who it affects, and the practical steps you can take to stay on the right side of it.

Before we go further, an honest note: this article is general guidance, not legal advice. Every business is responsible for the accuracy of its own allergen information, and food safety is ultimately your legal duty. Always check the official Food Standards Agency guidance and, where needed, speak to your local Environmental Health team.

What is Natasha’s Law and why does it exist?

Natasha’s Law is the everyday name for the amended food labelling rules that require full ingredient and allergen labelling on prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food. The law is named after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, a 15-year-old who died in 2016 after an allergic reaction to a baguette that contained sesame. At the time, food packed on the premises where it was sold did not have to carry an ingredients label, so there was no written warning of the allergen present.

Her family campaigned tirelessly for change, and the result was a legal requirement that came into force across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on 1 October 2021. The purpose is simple and serious: to give people with food allergies clear, written information so they can make safe choices, rather than relying on a verbal conversation that can be forgotten or misheard during a busy service.

What does PPDS (Prepacked for Direct Sale) mean?

PPDS is the category of food the law targets, and understanding it is the key to compliance. Food is prepacked for direct sale when it is packaged at the same place it is offered to the customer, before that customer orders it. In plain terms: you made it, you wrapped or bagged it, and then it sat there waiting to be bought.

Everyday examples make this clearer:

• A sandwich bagged up before the lunch rush and placed in a chiller cabinet for people to grab.
• A wrapped slice of cake sitting on the counter next to the till.
• A boxed loaf of bread a bakery packages in advance for customers to pick up.

By contrast, food made fresh to order and handed straight over — a sandwich you assemble while the customer waits, or a plated meal in a restaurant — is not PPDS. Neither is loose, unpackaged food sold from a counter. Those still need allergen information available, but not the full label PPDS requires. The distinction is all about whether the food was packaged in advance of the sale.

What does the law actually require?

For any PPDS item, the packaging must carry a label showing:

• The name of the food.
• A full ingredients list, with the 14 major allergens emphasised within that list — typically in bold, capitals, or a contrasting colour so they stand out.

The important detail people miss is that a separate “allergy advice” box is not enough on its own. The allergens must be emphasised within the full ingredients list itself, so a customer can see exactly what the product contains and which of those ingredients are allergens.

The 14 UK allergens you must declare

UK law recognises 14 allergens that must always be highlighted. They are:

• Celery
• Cereals containing gluten (including wheat, rye, barley and oats)
• Crustaceans (such as prawns, crab and lobster)
• Eggs
• Fish
• Lupin
• Milk
• Molluscs (such as mussels and squid)
• Mustard
• Tree nuts (such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts and cashews)
• Peanuts
• Sesame
• Soybeans (soya)
• Sulphur dioxide and sulphites (at concentrations above 10mg/kg or 10mg/litre)

These are the same 14 allergens you will see referenced throughout FSA materials, and they apply whether you are labelling PPDS food or providing allergen information for food made to order.

Who does Natasha’s Law apply to?

The law applies to any food business that produces and packs food for direct sale on the same premises. In practice that includes:

• cafés selling pre-made sandwiches, wraps and cakes from a chiller or counter.
• bakeries boxing loaves, pastries and slices ahead of time.
• Delis packing salads, pies and prepared pots in advance.
• Takeaways preparing packaged items before customers order.
• Restaurants and pubs with a grab-and-go fridge or a retail shelf.

Size does not exempt you. A one-person bakery has the same duty as a chain. If you package food before the point of sale, Natasha’s Law is relevant to you.

Practical steps to comply

Compliance is manageable if you break it into steps:

• Know your recipes and suppliers. You can only label accurately if you know every ingredient. Keep supplier specifications and check them, because recipes and formulations change without warning.
• Keep an allergen matrix. A simple grid listing each dish against the 14 allergens is the backbone of good allergen management. It is your single source of truth for both labels and staff answers.
• Label your PPDS items. Every prepacked-for-direct-sale product needs a compliant label with the name, full ingredients and emphasised allergens.
• Show allergen information to customers. For food made to order, make it easy to find — on menus, on a board, or online — and always be ready to answer questions accurately.
• Train your staff. Everyone who handles food or serves customers should understand the 14 allergens, know where the information lives, and never guess when asked.

Common mistakes to avoid

Even well-run kitchens slip up. Watch for these:

• Listing allergens only in a separate “contains” line instead of emphasising them within the full ingredients list.
• Forgetting about cross-contamination. “May contain” precautionary wording is voluntary, but it must be genuine and never used as a lazy substitute for controlling risk in the kitchen.
• Letting information go stale. When you change a recipe or a supplier, update your matrix and your labels the same day.
• Relying on memory. Verbal reassurance is not a substitute for written, accurate records.
• Assuming loose food is off the hook. Non-prepacked food still needs allergen information available on request.

How a menu tool helps you record and present allergen info

Much of the burden of allergen compliance is really an organisation problem: keeping accurate, consistent, up-to-date information and putting it in front of customers. A good digital menu tool helps by letting you record ingredients and allergens against each dish once, then present them clearly — online, on a QR-code menu at the table, and in a printable matrix your staff can rely on. When a recipe changes, you update it in one place and it flows through everywhere, which reduces the risk of an out-of-date label or a wrong answer at the counter.

DineKit is a free WordPress plugin built for exactly this. Its allergen compliance features let you tag all 14 UK allergens against every menu item, generate a printable allergen matrix, and present clear allergen information to customers online — so DineKit’s free allergen tools help you present this information accurately and consistently without wrestling with spreadsheets.

Finally, remember the disclaimer: this guide is here to help you understand the essentials, but it is not legal advice, and no tool can make you compliant on its own. You remain responsible for the accuracy of your allergen information. Always confirm your obligations against the official Food Standards Agency guidance, which is the authority on Natasha’s Law and food allergen labelling in the UK.